THE IMPACT OF LAW-ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITY ON A HEROIN MARKET

It may be argued that seizing large quantities of heroin being importe d into the country should decrease its supply and hence increase its p rice, resulting in a reduction in the quantity of the drug being purch ased or consumed. To date, however, there has been no empirical eviden ce that heroin seizures in Australia have any effect on the price of h eroin at street level. This article describes a 2-year research study during which the price and purity of street-level heroin were regularl y monitored. It was found that heroin seizures had no effect on the pr ice, purity or perceived availability of heroin at street level. It wa s further found that admissions to methadone treatment were not affect ed by the price or perceived availability of heroin or by local arrest s for heroin use/possession, nor was any relationship found between th ese arrests and the price of street-level heroin. Nevertheless, two-th irds of those who sought entry to local methadone programmes indicated the price as a reason for stopping using heroin. This paper argues th at supply-side law enforcement should only be used as a strategy for m aintaining high heroin prices if the demand for heroin can be shown to be price-elastic and, further, that the costs of such a strategy need to be weighed against the benefits.